ARTICLES

With today's article I want to ask for you to step into the role of the decision maker. I'd like to give you a scenario and then ask you to think about how to approach the problem. And if you'd like, you can share your ideas in the comments section.

You're in charge, so let's set the scene.

You are standing in a field on an open plain. Around you stand ten stadiums, each with a capacity of 100,000. Each stadium is filled with people and each person is wearing a colored t-shirt.

An ExplanationThese stadiums represent the world's 7.5 billion people. The color of the t-shirts represents where the people in those stadiums are at concerning the good news of Jesus.

Gold T-Shirts - The gold t-shirts represent the people who identify as Christians and are working to intentionally proclaim the gospel and make disciples. They are sharing their faith and believe that God wants to use them as his witnesses and ambassadors in a broken world. They make up about 10% of the world's population.

Yellow T-Shirts - The yellow t-shirts represent the cultural or nominal Christians in the world. If asked, they would identify as Christians but it may just be a cultural identification because they were born in a majority Christian country or into a historically Christian ethnic group. They may attend church and have some basic knowledge of the Christian faith but they are not regularly sharing with others. They make up about 23% of the world's population.

Green T-Shirts - The green t-shirts represent people who have access to the gospel - there are Bibles in their language, Christians and churches nearby - but they have not chosen to become followers of Jesus. If they wanted to learn more about Jesus, they would be able to find someone to tell them more in their neighborhood. They make up about 38% of the world's population.

Dark Blue T-Shirts - The dark blue t-shirts represent the unreached people of our world. They have no access to the gospel - no Bibles, no churches, no Christians. There are fewer than 2% of their own people group who are Christians and so if they did want to learn about Jesus, there would be no one near them with whom they could talk. They make up about 29% of the world's population.

​The Stadiums​Off to your right, three of the stadiums are brightly lit by the stadium lights. Roughly 10,000 of the people in each of those stadiums are wearing bright gold t-shirts. As you scan the crowds, these gold t-shirts are scattered among a sea of other people wearing yellow or green t-shirts. The yellow t-shirts make up about 30,000 people and the green make up another 59,000 people in each stadium. A final 1,000 people wearing dark blue t-shirts are huddled in small clumps, mostly near the exits.

Let's call this clump of three stadiums Group C.

Next to these three stadiums are four more stadiums which are also filled to capacity. The security lights are on but not the stadium lights. The majority of those sitting in the dim light of each stadium are wearing green t-shirts. Let's say roughly 60,0000. There are about 30,000 yellow t-shirts, another 9,000 dark blue t-shirts and only 1,000 gold t-shirts scattered throughout the crowd. The stadium is dominated by green with some yellow, a hint of dark blue and a barely perceptible touch of gold.

We'll call these four stadiums Group B.

Finally the three remaining stadiums sit shrouded in darkness. Neither the main lights nor the security lights are on. These stadiums are filled to capacity as well. Each stadium is filled from corner to corner with an expanse of dark blue t-shirts. The vast majority, 99,950 people are wearing them. A mere 50 people in gold shirts which you can hardly see are spread all around each of these stadiums, mostly near the exits.

These three stadiums we'll call Group A.

You Are In Charge

So there you are in the middle of that field, looking out over these ten stadiums. You're job is to work toward the completion of the great commission, to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus has commanded.

Standing with you is a group of 100 young men and women, all wearing gold t-shirts. These 100 represent the total missionary force that has come out of Group C and you are in charge. It's your job to decide how you will deploy these 100 to be most effective in working toward the completion of the great commission. How many will you send to each group of stadiums?

Authors

We are a collection of practitioners and trainers dedicated to equipping and encouraging everyone everywhere to proclaim the gospel and make disciples among the unreached locally, nationally and globally.